babysitting.

I look out of the window, amazed at the awesome view of, not only flowered trees and green leaves, but also of the mountains in the distance. The gray clouds have somewhat disappeared, and a hint of blue sky is making an appearance just before the sun sets. 

In the background of Taylor Swift's "22," I hear the voices of two little ones: one a boy, the other a girl. I wonder what they're talking about. They seem to be in deep conversation with each other, probably trying as hard as they can to stay awake past their bedtime since it still looks like daylight outside, even though it is truly 8pm.

I will admit, when I was texted earlier this morning about babysitting, I said "yes" in a heartbeat. But after hours of cleaning up my room and scrambling up and down the hall vacuuming and making sure everyone's stuff was out of the hall in order to do so, I crashed onto my bed and slept for an hour and a half, regretting my agreement to such a thing.

The mountain was still covered in fog on the way to my destination, and I was greeted by a very hyper golden retriever and the two small ones, ready to show me all the new toys they'd gotten since we'd last seen each other. And in that moment, I knew I had made a great decision. 

Sure, there are those times when babysitting is just a hassle. The kids don't listen, they wreck the house up, they try to hide from you when they don't want to eat their dinner, they disagree with each other and hit each other and you're called the bad guy when timeouts have to be given. 

But there are also those rare cases such as these:

1. You leave the room for, like, 2 seconds and hear one of them start crying. You rush back, thinking they've gotten hurt or they've been hitting each other and one of them has gotten hurt, or the giant dog has decided to tackle one of them. When you ask, "What's wrong? What happened?", she looks up all teary eyed and asks, "WHERE WERE YOU?!" You sigh, but with a smile. Because yes, it was a little dramatic that she started crying after you left for 2 seconds, but at the same time, it was so adorable and it warmed your heart to know that she missed you for those 2 seconds.
2. You're watching the kids play in the bathtub and hear the dog barking, asking to be let out. You walk over, only to find remnants of a napkin and macaroni noodles on the ground, the dog looking at you all innocently from the back door. You think about why there are pieces of napkin on the ground as you let the dog out, and it dawns on you: THE DOG HAD EATEN THE MAC N CHEESE AND THE NAPKIN IT WAS WRAPPED IN THAT YOU'D THROWN INTO THE TRASH CAN. And you just shake your head.

Without these kind of scenarios, babysitting would be boring. Sure, it'd be easier, but it's always good to have your world shaken up by kids and animals, especially when you're a college student who rarely interacts with such things. 

I don't think I wasted my Saturday night. It was so great to see these kids that I'd been babysitting since the summer time grow physically, spiritually, and mentally. 

Four more hours to go! The kids are in bed, the dog's sleeping at my feet, and I've got a packet of Coldstone Creamery hot cocoa calling my name! Bout to go drink summa that! YUM! :D

Not to mention...

ONE. MORE. WEEK.

TWO. MORE. FINALS.

HOME. SWEET. HOME.

Yes, I love Covenant and I love all the friendships I've made and all the good times I've had. But it's about time to taste Mom's sweet tea and eat some spam, white rice, and green beans! Cannot wait! Summer 2013, COME QUICKLY!!!

LOVE Y'ALL!!! <3

*~.Mishy.~* (^^)